Does Lactose Reduce Iron Assimilation in the Body?

measured non-heme iron absorption ... real-life conditions, increasing the amount of dairy products probably has no effect upon iron absorption in meals containing appreciable amounts of dairy products....

Results: No significant differences in nonheme-iron absorption were found between the BD and the BD supplemented with milk, calcium lactate, or the milk mineral isolate [7.4% (95% CI: 5.3%, 10.5%), 5.2% (3.5%, 7.9%), 6.7% (5.0%, 8.9%), and 5.1% ...

In cow's milk, the story was different. Removal of whey and fat had no effect on iron uptake, while removal of the casein fraction increased uptake, indicating that casein is an iron-uptake inhibitor in cow's milk.

The results are discussed in two phases i.e. Phase I: iron persisted in the supernatant after centrifugation. Phase II: iron retained in the final complex after crystallization · Maximum binding of iron to lactose was achieved at 5 mg/g of lactose.

Dairy products are an important component of many human diets, and contain high levels of calcium, phosphate, and milk proteins including casein, whey, and bioactive peptides (all potential inhibitors of iron absorption). Results have been conflicting with regard to the effects of dairy products on nonheme iron absorption.

In both models, uptake and net absorption of Fe complexed to CPP from αS1-caseins were significantly lower than from Fe complexed to β-CPP. Inhibition of the intestinal phosphatase significantly increased the uptake and the absorption of Fe ...

Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number): Hoppe M, Onning G, Hulthen L. Freeze-dried Lactobacillus plantarum 299v increases iron absorption in young females-Double isotope sequential single-blind studies in menstruating women.

Due to its high casein and calcium content, cow’s milk prevents the digestive tract from absorbing iron from other foods [36,37]. This applies to non-heme iron, which makes up the majority of dietary iron [37]. Cow’s milk has four times the calcium content of human milk, and this also competes with iron for absorption [13];

Environmental, immunologic, and genetic factors are responsible for the histologic findings of flattening and atrophy of the small intestinal mucosal villi, crypt elongation, and lymphoid proliferation in the lamina propria. These changes may account for decreased levels of disaccharidase, alkaline phos-phatase, and hydrolases, predisposing patients to lactose intolerance and other functional defects in the intestinal mucosa.